Rain cap

ABSTRACT

A rain cap having a central enclosure, a rear flap which extends outward and a front flap which extends upward from the enclosure. The cap is secured to the head by tying members which are attached to sidewardly extending portions of the rear flap.

United States Patent Gregg 1 Dec. 24, 1974 [54] RAIN CAP 3,480,970 12/1969 Gettinger 2 207 [76] Inventor: Richard C. Gregg, 4007 Nelson Dr. FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS NW9 Huntsvlue 35810 82,045 8/1919 Switzerland 2/172 [22] Filed: Oct. 16, 1972 1,160,343 2/1958 France 294,004 1/1954 Switzerland 2/198 [21] Appl. No.: 297,963

Primary ExaminerJordan Franklin 52 Us. 01 2/172, 2/174, 2/198, Assistant Examiner-Peter Nerbun 2/204 [51] Int. Cl A421) l/06 57 ABSTRACT [58] Field of Search 1. 2/198, 195, 172, 202, 204,

2/171 A ram cap having a central enclosure, a rear flap which extends outward and a front flap which extends [56] References Cited upward from the enclosure. The cap is secured to the head by tying members which are attached to side UNITED STATES PATENTS wardly extending portions of the rear flap. 946,770 1/1910 Sands 2/172 X 2,686,917 8/1954 Aurebach 2/172 1 Claim, 4 Drawing Figures RAIN CAP BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Rain caps for women have been constructed in many configurations and millions are sold annually. The problem in creating an acceptable product is that of providing a cap which will accommodate and protect hair styles and yet be attractive and comfortable to the wearer. The applicant has found that many of the existing rain caps fail in one or more of these considerations. For one thing, with longer current hair styles, the cap must not only have substantial fullness, but must provide a substantial lateral protection to the back portion of the hair, prevent crushing of hair styles and yet adequately protect the hair and back of the neck of the wearer. Second, the portion of the cap covering the hair at the back, such as may be provided by a flap member, should be controllable in the amount of force it applies. A third problem which the applicant has observed is that of preventing rain from running down the face of the wearer and onto the front of a hair style.

It is, thus, the object of the present invention to provide an improved rain cap which overcomes the aforesaid and other problems with existing rain caps.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In accordance with the invention, a rain cap is constructed having a generally hemispherical enclosure adapted to fit over the head of the wearer. A rear flap is attached to and extends outwardly from the rear and sides of the lower edge region of the enclosure. A front flap is secured to the bottom edge region of the front portion of the enclosure and it is biased to naturally extend upward as the rain cap is worn. A pair of tying members are connected to sides of the rear flap whereby the rain cap is secured to the head of the wearer and a desired degree of force applied to the rear flap to protect the neck and hair at the back of the head of the wearer.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a pictorial view of a rain cap constructedin accordance with this invention.

FIG. 2 is a top view of the rain cap shown in FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a detail of construction showing one of the panels of the rain cap shown in FIGS. 1 and 2.

FIG. 4 is a pictorial view of the rain cap as worn.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT The rain cap illustrated in the drawings consists of central head enclosure 10, rear flap 12, front flap 14, and tying flaps 16 and 18. Central enclosure is constructed of four identical, or substantially identical, generally triangular, but rounded, panels 20, 22, 24 and 26 as shown in FIG. 3. These panels are of a thin, water-repellant material which is typically transparent or translucent. The panels are sewn or otherwise attached together at seams 28.

Rear flap 12 connects to and surrounds the lower edge, or edge region 30, of enclosure 10. It is connected to enclosure 10 by sewing or other means whereby rear flap 12 is biased to extend substantially in a horizontal plane, that is perpendicular to the central axis of central enclosure 10.

Front flap 14 is connected to the lower edge or edge region of the front portion of enclosure 10, overlapping and being above rear flap 12 for a short distance on each side of enclosure 10. Front flap 14 is sewn or otherwise connected at seam 31 to enclosure 10 to naturally bias it upward, as shown. Front and rear flaps 14 and 12 are typically constructed of the same waterrepellant material as enclosure 10. Tying flaps l6 and 18 are constructed of a soft net material and are generally triangular in configuration with the base of each being attached to a front, bottom, edge portion 32 of rear flap 12. As shown in FIG. 4, the flaps are tied together under the neck of the wearer, pulling down rear flap 12 slightly to provide the desired degree of contact or force between the hair at the back of the head and rear flap 12.

Front flap 14 acts as a form of rain gutter to carry off rain that strikes the top of the cap and carries it down along sides of the cap and onto rear flap l2 and thus out of the face of the wearer.

Triangular tying flaps l6 and 18, being attached to rear flap 12 over a significant length, l to 5 inches, enables a desired large area pull or restraint to be applied to rear flap 12.

By virtue of the rounded triangular panel construction, illustrated in FIGS. 3 and 4, it will be observed that head enclosure 10 has a significant fullness near the top, enabling most hair styles to be readily accommodated without being disturbed. This rounded construction also enables a substantially rounded bottom edge of enclosure 10.

While front flap 14 is normally worn as shown for the reasons described, it may be turned down, at the option of the wearer, to cover a portion of the face. The edges of rear flap 12 and front flap 14 are secured by a seam 34.

What is claimed is:

1. A rain cap comprising:

a generally hemispherical enclosure of thin, waterrepellant material adapted to fit over the head and cover the top and portion of the sides and rear of the head of the wearer; discrete rear flap of thin, water-repellant material attached to and around substantially the rear half of the lower edge region of said hemispherical enclosure terminated at front edges of said rear flap and said flap being connected and biased to naturally extend rearward substantially in a plane perpendicular to the vertical axis of the hemispherical enclosure;

a pair of generally triangular elongated tying strips of soft net material, a triangular base end of one tying flap being fixedly connected to a front-bottom edge region of said rear flap, on one side of said rain cap, and the other tying flap being fixedly connected in a like manner to a front-bottom edge region of said rear flap, on the other side of said rain cap, whereby said rain cap may be secured to the head by tying the opposite apex ends of said tying flaps together and thereby pulling said rear flap downward over the rear of the neck of the wearer and thus securing the rain cap to the head;

a discrete front flap of thin, water repellant material secured to and extending from the bottom edge of substantially the front half of said hemispherical enclosure and terminated on opposite sides of said on the front half of said enclosure is caught between said front flap and said enclosure and caused to flow around to the sides of the enclosure and onto the rear flap, and thus rain is prevented from falling down the front of the head and face of the wearer. 

1. A rain cap comprising: a generally hemispherical enclosure of thin, water-repellant material adapted to fit over the head and cover the top and portion of the sides and rear of the head of the wearer; a discrete rear flap of thin, water-repellant material attached to and around substantially the rear half of the lower edge region of said hemispherical enclosure terminated at front edges of said rear flap and said flap being connected and biased to naturally extend rearward substantially in a plane perpendicular to the vertical axis of the hemispherical enclosure; a pair of generally triangular elongated tying strips of soft net material, a triangular base end of one tying flap being fixedly connected to a front-bottom edge region of said rear flap, on one side of said rain cap, and the other tying flap being fixedly connected in a like manner to a front-bottom edge region of said rear flap, on the other side of said rain cap, whereby said rain cap may be secured to the head by tying the opposite apex ends of said tying flaps together and thereby pulling said rear flap downward over the rear of the neck of the wearer and thus securing the rain cap to the head; a discrete front flap of thin, water-repellant material secured to and extending from the bottom edge of substantially the front half of said hemispherical enclosure and terminated on opposite sides of said enclosure, said front flap being connected and biased to naturally extend upward; whereby the said front flap may be biased upward or downward independent of the biasing of the rear flap; and the ends of said front flap extending above and overlapping ends of said rear flap, whereby rain falling on the front half of said enclosure is caught between said front flap and said enclosure and caused to flow around to the sides of the enclosure and onto the rear flap, and thus rain is prevented from falling down the front of the head and face of the wearer. 